Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia @ The Purple Booker.
My Teaser for this week is from
The Nutting Girl
by Fred DeVecca
Genre: Mystery
My teaser from page 70 in the Paperback.
It was attached to the hand of a young man as tall and skinny as the still budding maple tree hovering over his head. The gleam was shiny and metallic and I hear it click. Once, and then twice, then a whole series of clicks.
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Read on if you want to know more.
My Review
What was it about this book that so captivated me? Let’s see… The main character is Frank Raven. Used to be a blind monk, a cop, and a private detective. Now he runs an old movie theater and belongs to a troupe of Morris Dancers. I had to google that to see what it’s all about. Lots of strong movements and twinkling bells on the costumes and a lively chorus. To imagine such a man’s man doing this tickled me and I warmed right up to Frank. There’s much more to this man than meets the eye.
Meet Nick Mooney, an up and coming film director. He’s charismatic and a bit self important, but there’s another side to him too. He also wormed his way into my good graces.
And then there’s Nick’s star actress, Velcro. A stunningly beautiful and talented young actress with more baggage than her young shoulders can bear. She was a surprise. Intellectual and spiritual, and a tender soul, hidden behind the glitz and glamour.
Two more character’s I want to mention are Clara and her daughter, Sarah. Frank’s been a loner for a long time and doesn’t think much about it. Something about Clara calls to his loneliness. And Sarah’s zest for life and knowledge is a lure he can’t resist. These two ladies draw him out of his shell, giving him a glimpse at what he could have. I crossed my fingers things would happen for them.
I could go on and on about the characters in this book. All of them reach out to you. You want only good things to happen to them. Alas, this is a mystery about a young woman who apparently drowns in a river. There may not be a happy ever after for some of them.
This is where the mystery gets interesting. Was Velcro pushed or did she jump? Was she dead, or maybe just lost? I honestly didn’t know the answers to any of these questions until I approached the end of the book.
The Nutting Girl is Fred DeVecca’s debut book. You’d never know it. He writes a deep mystery, taking you on a somewhat spiritual journey, with eclectic characters and visual descriptions of a small town setting. I’ll be watching for his next book.
5 Stars
Thanks so much to Coffeetown Press and Fred DeVecca for a complimentary copy. My review is voluntarily given.
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Synopsis
Middle-aged Frank Raven used to be a lot of things—a blind monk, a cop, a private detective, and a hard drinker. Now he doesn’t do much except run a funky old movie theater in bucolic Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, dance and sing with the local troupe of Morris Dancers, and record bird songs on his phone.
A lanky young wunderkind director, Nick Mooney, brings his Hollywood film crew to town and hires the “retired” Raven to protect his star: the wild, unpredictable, gorgeous, and prodigiously talented twenty-one-year-old Juliana Velvet Norcross, aka VelCro.
Reluctant at first, Raven takes on the job and slowly sees that there is more to VelCro than the troubled rebel she appears to be. She probes the former monk for his thoughts on God, love, and the soul. But Raven has renounced many of his former beliefs, and VelCro’s questions cause him to re-examine his life.
On the eve of filming, storms ravage the small village, and the river that runs through the center of town floods its banks. VelCro becomes ill and withdraws into the care of Sarah, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Frank’s girlfriend, Clara. The storm passes, VelCro recovers, and filming begins. But during the first shot, she is swept away into the river, leaving no trace.
What role did VelCro’s director play in her life? Did she fall? Did she jump? Was she pushed? Frank and Sarah are driven to find out what happened.
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How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!
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